Honestly I prefer to be light with very less items with me during hiking. More luggage will going to give trouble if route is long and hard enough. Just recently one new person joined us for hiking and what I noticed was he came with lots of item. Tablet, music player, snacks and few more. Well, snack is okay but tablet!? Well, I used to keep water bottle, some food, medical items and extra pair of cloth with me. Anything extra will be kind of burden.

Though that boy was very fit and he did manage to complete the route with ease even with those items. So he did well. What you prefer in this case?

I would also love to travel light but thanks to my wanting things to go good I carry heavy instead incase anything ia needed and I am prepared. I feel like if I don't take everything I usually take with me I feel like I am missing something and it will make me stay stressed.

That sounds a nice idea but I am not the one that would not carry anything which is absolutely necessary. I generally go for longer hiking trips or in hilly areas where weight on your bag/back makes a great difference. Oh, yes I can do that if I am going for a professional trip and I have the facility of a carrier with me.

I always prefer to travel light. Like you said extra stuffs are always a burden in a trip as you have to carry it all around. I prefer to take gadgets only when it is absolutely necessary. I used to carry my camera to take pictures now I am taking all the photos with my smartphone itself. That one gadget meets all the requirements of music, map, photography and much more. I will have one extra pair of clothing, my medical kit, extra towel, mobile charger, and earphones all packed in my backpack.

Well this is one area that I have just learned to really work out my legs before going on a long hike. If I know that there is a lot of gear, my legs are usually the first to go so the calves and quad muscles are important for me to try to build up.

Ray1 wrote:That sounds a nice idea but I am not the one that would not carry anything which is absolutely necessary. I generally go for longer hiking trips or in hilly areas where weight on your bag/back makes a great difference. Oh, yes I can do that if I am going for a professional trip and I have the facility of a carrier with me.

Lol that sounds confusing answer. So you prefer light or heavy. Longer hiking you say, so it it for more days or only one or two days. Here sometimes we go for big route which will take 3 to 4 days. And we have to spend night in the jungle. So only then we have to take more luggage with us as at that time we may need more things.

Ray1 wrote:That sounds a nice idea but I am not the one that would not carry anything which is absolutely necessary. I generally go for longer hiking trips or in hilly areas where weight on your bag/back makes a great difference. Oh, yes I can do that if I am going for a professional trip and I have the facility of a carrier with me.

Lol that sounds confusing answer. So you prefer light or heavy. Longer hiking you say, so it it for more days or only one or two days. Here sometimes we go for big route which will take 3 to 4 days. And we have to spend night in the jungle. So only then we have to take more luggage with us as at that time we may need more things.

Actually what I said was that I would carry anything which is absolutely must and avoid anything which I carry just for the sake of carrying that I may or may not need. I know what is must and what is a luxury on hiking trips because during a long walk especially in difficult terrains weight is an important factor. I would carry which I know I would definitely use.

Surely this is a bad idea. When you decide to go hiking, you have to prioritize what you'll be essential for you (and that doesn't mean picking only the "good" things). Excess baggage always causes a lot of headaches along the way and soon you will regret having chosen to bring so many things.

Ray1 wrote:Actually what I said was that I would carry anything which is absolutely must and avoid anything which I carry just for the sake of carrying that I may or may not need. I know what is must and what is a luxury on hiking trips because during a long walk especially in difficult terrains weight is an important factor. I would carry which I know I would definitely use.

Ha ha.. Well, even the boy which I was talking about used all the things which he carry including tab. But I still think better to have less weight so that we can walk easily. But yes it depends on person.

So what was your biggest hiking experience so far? I mean for how many days?

Ray1 wrote:Actually what I said was that I would carry anything which is absolutely must and avoid anything which I carry just for the sake of carrying that I may or may not need. I know what is must and what is a luxury on hiking trips because during a long walk especially in difficult terrains weight is an important factor. I would carry which I know I would definitely use.

Ha ha.. Well, even the boy which I was talking about used all the things which he carry including tab. But I still think better to have less weight so that we can walk easily. But yes it depends on person.

So what was your biggest hiking experience so far? I mean for how many days?

I have walked for 18 days continually in Leh and Ladakh but that was in the past but I don't think I would be able to repeat that trip now because a trip like that would be too much for me now. I mostly do 2-3 days' trip now in easier but interesting areas with lots of stays on the way. I have just completed an overnight walking trip for charity that was only 28 km but we did it in almost 2 days.